hey guys,

I'm going to be cleaning out the K&N filters, and i've heard that if you over oil them then you can damage your engine. How can you make sure you don't over oil them? Just let them sit overnight so that if there was too much oil it'll just dry off? Plus how do i know i over oiled them? Thanks in advance!

 

It's not the engine, per se, that you damage, but the MAF sensor. I haven't seen an instance of that happening with the G's though.

After it's dry and clean, just spritz some of the oil. A little bit goes a long way. If you feel that you've put on too much, lay the filter down on shop towels or paper towels overnight.

Frankly, i think some of Nissan's OEM air filters are over-oiled to begin with.

 

If you have a spray, you make one pass to oil the filter. Then spritz to get any spots that are still white. Pass speed would be like spraying a layer of spray paint

Mike. I don't think any oem Nissan filters are oiled. they are all paper types

 

I would add to just wait after spritzing the filter after one pass. There may be areas that appear to not be oiled, but as time goes on, the oil gets absorbed throughout the entire filter.

 

That's interesting. Each time the local dealership replaced filters on my old Maxima, it was an oiled element and did say Nissan on 'em. This was about 6 or 7 years ago when it was still under warranty. At 36k i replaced it with a dry element and eventually moved to the K&N.

 

dang it.. haha i think i over oiled mine.. I thought the more the better! So what happens if you over oil it? MAF sensor goes bad?

 

I'm worried about over oiling too, i thought it messes up your engine, but soundmike said only the maf sensor, and on the K&N they used an airbrush to spray the sensor with their oil to kill the sensor it didnt mess it up, then they submerged the sensor and that didnt' kill the sensor either so no idea.

 

I recently went back to OEM paper filters but when I was using the K&N panels, I had two. I would switch out the new one that had been cleaned and oiled 6 months earlier with the one I removed. I cleaned and dryed the dirty filter, lightly oiled and dryed again and put it in a zip lock bag until I needed it.

 

I only speak from the Maxima experience, the 5/5.5 gen were known to have sensitive sensors. You should be okay on the G, although you generally don't want to over-oil as the purpose of the oil is just to trap the dirt. Too much oil and you cut down on filter efficiency (i.e. airflow).

 

That's what I do with mine, no problems.

 

What isa K & N air filter anyway? What's the difference from OEM air filters?

 

K&N is a lifetime filter, which requires occasional cleaning and oiling, where the OEM is a paper filter that is disposable.
These oil based filters offered higher flow of air, and therefore, a slight HP increase.

 

With the old oil squeeze bottles, you'd run a line of oil at the bottom of each pleat, then wait and it would wick up each pleat after about 20 minutes, so you were really only applying about half of what you thought you needed to cover due to the cotton wicking the oil.

The cotton cleans out to be white, you'll easily see any spots you missed with the oil if you follow the instructions.

 

More noise, not more power. On a Maxima or old Q45 a over-oiled MAF will cause stumbling, black smoke, unburned fuel smell. Just replace OEM filters every 6 months. Might want to check on 03-06 G forum to see if they have problems with K&N.

Also, with K&N your engine oil gets dirty faster, so change it more often. It's a great way to waste pricey synthetic oil.

 

Thats funny, I could have sworn the dyno chart said otherwise, i'll go with your anecdotal evidence as proof however.